President Ahmadinejad told ABC television's Good Morning America that a recently published dossier of intercepted Iranian weapons amounted to a catalogue of unsubstantiated charges designed to distract attention from the violence bogging down America's troops in Iraq.

"Americans have made a mistake in Iraq," he told presenter Diane Sawyer. "This is a shame for Americans, of course, and that's why they are trying to point their fingers at other people and pointing fingers at others will not solve the problem."

Mr Ahmadinejad spoke as fresh allegations emerged that Iran was behind a wave of violence targeting American and British forces in Iraq in December, just when the United Nations passed a sanctions resolution on Iran because of fears it could be building a nuclear bomb.

Last month militia groups in Basra acquired the ability to target British bases with Iranian-made Katyuska rockets for the first time. American officials also claimed that surface-to-air missiles have been supplied to Iraqi groups and now threaten coalition air movements.

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A presentation by American intelligence operatives in Baghdad on Sunday detailed types and inventories of Iranian weapons seized in Iraq. Iranian agents detained in Iraq were caught attempting to destroy sensitive documents that detailed potential targets for Shia militias.

The Daily Telegraph can also report that Austrian-made rifles sold to Iran last year for use by its border guards have been found by US military in Iraq.

As pressure on the Iranian leadership intensifies to halt its efforts to refine nuclear fuel to weapons grade, Teheran has sent increasingly defiant messages to Washington.

The country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last week declared his willingness to strike American interests around the world. He said an attack on Iraq would be senseless. "Some say that the US president is not the type who thinks pabout the consequences of his action," he said. "But even these people can be brought to their senses."

A Downing Street spokesman yesterday backed the American claims that Iran was directly supplying deadly material to Iraqi groups. "We certainly believe that if the Iranian government wanted to, it could address these concerns but we don't see any signs that it is," he said.

Iranian belligerence has set off security concerns across the Middle East. Overnight Israel carried out its first successful, night-time launch of its Arrow anti-missile protection system.

Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who restored tentative contacts with Iran at a security conference in Munich on Sunday, said new opportunities had arisen for talks with Teheran.

"We both have the impression that in Iran there is a new ambition to return to the negotiating table,"